A writer-mom's life is filled with a million and two distractions; sometimes she finds herself at the park, WRITING ON THE SIDEWALK

Faith, Hope, and Ferris Beuller’s Day Off: A Tribute to Wendy

“Two plus two equals four, the sky is blue and healthy 38 year old women are not supposed to die.” These were the words spoken by my brother-in-law at my sisters funeral, and he was right.

How do you find hope when such a tragedy strikes? When your faith is challenged? I don’t know if I have any answers. I don’t know if there are any answers. I find myself trying to be grateful for the small things.

On September 29th 2009 I received a call I never thought I would receive. “Wendy had a heart attack. It doesn’t look good.” But Wendy survived and she went on to fight a huge battle, she became my hero. (Click here to read that post.)

During the last six months, one of the things that amazed Wendy was the outpouring of love, and concern she received from people from all over the country. Her Caring Bridge webpage received over 10,000 hits and she was on prayer chains across the country in several different denominations and religions.

“Why do they care?” she would ask clearly puzzled by the attention.

The real answer was: “Because two plus two equals four, the sky is blue and healthy 38 year old women are not supposed to need heart transplants.”

During this time our conversations were rarely serious, I always tried to make her laugh. We joked and shared stories and I made sure that I told her I loved her every single time.

I’m thankful for the six extra months that we had. We had one more Thanksgiving, one more Christmas, one more birthday, and one more anniversary. She got to watch her daughter’s Christmas program at school, celebrate her 7th birthday and watch her baby crawl. These are all huge things.

On April 2nd 2010 I received a call I never wanted to receive “Wendy’s had a stroke. It doesn’t look good.”

Twelve days later she would be gone.

Wendy’s legacy lives on through those of us who loved her and carry her spirit in our hearts and her two beautiful children. It is a true testament to her giving spirit that instead of receiving a organ donation, she became an organ donor herself.

There were over 1000 people in attendance at her funeral.

“Why are so many people here?” I can hear her ask.

The real answer was: “Because two plus two equals four, the sky is blue and healthy 38 year old women are not supposed to die.”

My answer to her would have been: “Because you’re Ferris Beuller. You’re cool and everybody loves you. Either that or they’re hanging out for the “Cow Chip Bingo” happening later at the church.”

That was beautiful Suzie! Thank you Aunt Lori for sharing! I have thought about Wendy about a million times since we came down to say our last good-byes. I find myself asking the question, what would Wendy have done if only…..and I find myself eating ice cream more often, kissing my son more, telling my sisters how much I love them, being kinder to all those around me, and being extremely grateful for all the things that I am fortunate enough to be able to experience from a beautiful sunset to a stressful drive in traffic on the freeway. I’m am sure Wendy would be floored at all the people she has inspired and I am so grateful to have known her, she was always such a peaceful presence, sweet and kind and I wish I will become more like her!

[…] a simple greeting, it really goes much deeper than that. It has now been a year since my sister Wendy passed away and that simple greeting is letting me know that they care about me as I go through […]